


work of art

by thisissirius



Series: love in shorts (tumblr) [4]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Drunken Shenanigans, M/M, Soft Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26062303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisissirius/pseuds/thisissirius
Summary: “He’s like a work of art,” Eddie says, staring up at her.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: love in shorts (tumblr) [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1883830
Comments: 8
Kudos: 268
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	work of art

**Author's Note:**

> written because an anon asked me to show my work on why buck is so pretty. i had eddie do it for me instead ;)

“He’s like a work of art,” Eddie says, staring up at her.

Maddie’s fairly sure he’s on drink number five and is starting to tilt. Physically. Into her lap. Buck’s disappeared to…. do something with Howie and he’s left Maddie with his inebriated fiancé who could do with a glass of water or ten. “Is he?”

“Yes,” Eddie hisses, waving a hand and almost knocking her in the face. He then pokes at her stomach once, gently and with a reverent look on his face. “If your baby has the Buckley genes, they’re gonna be amazing.”

“Because they’ll be pretty?” Maddie asks, sipping her water. She’s amused, because drunk Eddie isn’t something she gets to see very often—if at all. The instant he starts to get this way, Buck is quick to drag him out of the house and away from everyone.

Eddie frowns, shuffling back a bit so he’s almost upright. “No. Well yes, because woah,” he says, eyes wide, hand wave now encompassing her and a vague direction of where Buck might be. Maddie’s a little flattered to be included in that, but then Eddie’s frowning down at her stomach which, rude. “But also because you’re good. So good even though your parents are assholes.”

The word gets dragged out and Maddie wonders what Buck’s told Eddie about them. Howie knows they’re not bad people, that they just weren’t good at being parents, but Buck spent longer with them. His life was affected more than hers and she doesn’t know how he feels; he won’t talk to her about it.

Maddie takes a risk; she drops a hand onto Eddie’s head and he narrows his eyes but doesn’t move. “You’re good for my brother.”

“Can I tell you a secret?”

“Sure,” Maddie says, always eager for dirt on her brother.

“I think Buck came fully formed out of a painting.”

Maddie laughs. She can’t help it; Eddie looks dead serious, peering over his shoulder like Buck will appear at any second, and his eyes are big and round.

Eddie frowns. “You think I’m crazy.”

“A painting?” Maddie asks, because she’s gotta know.

“He’s all,” Eddie waves a hand over himself. “With the muscles and the shoulders and the arms.”

Okay, more than she wants to know, but credit where it’s due. “I think Buck works for those.”

“Duh,” Eddie says, rolling his eyes. “But he could be…. everywhere.”

“What?”

“Like, his face and his nose and his mouth, they’re all perfect. And when he’s pressing me down—“

Maddie chokes on her water and immediately puts a hand on Eddie’s face, turning him away. “Shut up.”

Eddie says something else, muffled by her hand.

“Hey,” Buck says coming back into the room. “Is there a reason you’re facepalming Eddie?”

Maddie snorts. “He thinks you’re a painting come to life.”

Buck looks surprised.

“See?” Eddie says, pushing at Maddie’s hand. “He’s so pretty. Especially when he’s fuck—”

“O-Kay,” Buck says, flushing and reaching for Eddie. “Time to get you home, sober you up.”

“Are you gonna fuck me?” Eddie asks, in what he probably thinks is a whisper.

Buck makes a noise in his throat—Maddie can see the redness on the back of his neck and smirks as she hears the door open.

“Not if you keep this shit up,” Buck says, just as quietly as Eddie. Then, louder, “Bye, Maddie. Bye, Chim!”

A beat later, Howie pokes his head out of their bedroom. “They left?”

Maddie grins at him, smirking. “Eddie’s at that point.”

“Ah,” Howie says, moving to sit next to her on the couch. He puts an arm around her shoulders and kisses her hairline. “Talking about your brother in terms you’d prefer he didn’t?”

Opening her mouth to explain, she shuts it. Eddie’s not the most emotionally open man she’s ever met and the fact that he said that to her, even drunk, means a lot. She likes to think it matters. “Yep,” she says instead. “Let’s not talk about it.”

Howie agrees and they settle on a movie.

The next morning, when her phone vibrates, she’s not expecting a message from Eddie.

_Thanks. For not saying anything to Chim._

_You told me a secret,_ she types back. _I kept it._

It helps that she kind of knows what he means; she fought to be the person she is, and she knows Buck’s done the same. That despite it all—their parents, Abby, the truck… every shitty thing that life’s handed her brother, he’s still amazing. Beautiful inside, a heart of gold, and a smile she’ll never tire of seeing because it means her brother’s strong and still happy.

Maybe Eddie’s not wrong about the work of art; Buck’s put effort into how he approaches the world, and he’s come out the other side the kind of person Maddie’s proud to call her brother.


End file.
